24 Jan 2018

Featured Project: Jacana Eco Estate

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Jacana Eco Estate

 

Description:

Construction of 30 homes, for a gated estate which will be known as Jacana Eco Estate. Plot and plan development offers different sites and designs. The estate aims to provide, newly built modern contemporary homes, located within a gated estate, at affordable prices, all the while maintaining modern design features, high-quality finishes and a safe living environment. Estate also focuses on the environmental issues, such as rainwater harvesting, gas and solar options. Security with 24/7 guarding facilities at the gate. The site is situated along Hayfields Road in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal.

 

   

Status:

Awarded

 

Category:

Building

 

Industry:

Residential

 

Sector:

Private

Region:

Hilton

 

Value:

Unknown At This Stage

 

Timing:

February 2018 to December 2020 (2 years)

 

Class:

Invited / Negotiated

 

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details here 

Our blog also explains What Projects are all about

If you are not subscribed to L2B yet, please visit our website or visit our blog for more Featured Projects previously published.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

17 Jan 2018

Featured Project: Belgravia Valley Phase 3

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Belgravia Valley
Belgravia Valley

Description:

Construction of 372 residential units for Phase 3, Belgravia Valley for a mixture of low and middle-income groups in Belgravia. East London, Eastern Cape.

 

 

 

Status:

Awarded

Category:

Building

Industry:

Residential

Sector:

Private

Region:

East London

Value:

R 100 million+

Timing:

January 2018 to July 2019 (18 months)

Class

Invited / Negotiated

 

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details here

If you are not subscribed to L2B yet, please visit our website

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

22 Jun 2017

L2B Blog: Exploring New Ideas in the Role of the Project Manager

by | posted in: Construction Chat, General | 0

Exploring New Ideas in the Role of the Project Manager

If you are involved in the construction industry you have most likely come into contact with a Project Manager (hereafter referred to as a PM) or heard of one mentioned in the process of developments and particularly larger developments.

Certainly in Leads 2 Business’ Projects Department PM’s are one of the most common professionals we deal with. The reason for this, is their role within construction projects.

So, what does a PM actually do? It would seem rather obvious right, they manage the project? But nothing is ever as simple as it seems. PM’s actually do a whole host of duties.

Some of which include: planning, organising, controlling, communicating, executing, reports, programs, advice, analysis, resource control, health and safety, budgets, administration and handover.

All of these duties are done ensure that the project runs successfully thus lowering the risks while meeting all of the objectives timeously to ensure completion which effects the profitability of the project.

So, when do new ideas come into the picture? What new ideas would PM’s have to explore in todays construction industry?

To be honest, I was at a loss when pondering this question, after all I’m not a PM and it’s not a role one easily assumes to answer. So I emailed a few PM’s to get some feedback on ideas that they might want to put out there… but still no luck, probably snowed under with work given our economic environment. I scoured the Internet and there didn’t seem to be any publications or news out there for new ideas when it comes to PM’s until I happened on some LinkedIn Posts. Phew!

This may not be a new idea but how about technology, either using existing tech and / or molding it to PM’s requirements, partnering with IT and creating PM specific tech or even sharing your tech tricks with other PM’s? For example: Ahmed H. Emam, PMP writes “Detect and Fix Dangling Activities in Time Schedule using Excel Macro.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/detect-fix-dangling-activities-time-schedule-using-excel-pmp

Using tech could make PM’s jobs easier but some seem to think that PM’s might be replaced in the future by Tech/Bots. As Oliver Yarbrough, M.S., PMP illustrates in “Can a Robot Do Your Job? Here’s “How Project Managers Can Survive a Takeover.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-robot-do-your-job-heres-how-project-managers-oliver

There are some things that tech, no matter how advanced it gets, cannot replace. Oliver suggests to focus on the following skills in order to stand out: “Leadership, Diplomacy, Negotiating, Public Speaking, Emotional Intelligence, Communication (verbal and nonverbal)” and instead of fighting tech, work with it to enhance your service delivery.

Another thought also came to mind: what is one of the key aspects that I think of when I think of a PM? It would have to be communication. So, what new idea would make communication more effective? What about a platform where all the schedules, notes, admin, planning and analysis can be seen by all the professionals involved in a specific project? Where each person can make notes or get alerts thus avoiding confusion, emails back and forth, potential loss of material, and saving time, something like Google Sheets for PM’s? Does this already exist? It’s possible… calling all PM’s out there, let us know! Perhaps I need to patent this idea.

After all, we all know that communication is key whether you are a PM or not. Another useful tool to facilitate communication and interaction between professionals and all other contacts which fall within the scope of projects is to use L2B (Leads 2 Business). If you are looking to get involved in the different aspects of construction, information is our business. We encourage communication, new ideas and growth in order to build and establish business.

If any of the above sparks your interest leave a Comment below or or Contact me on SashaA@L2B.co.za

Source:

http://profica.com/Project-Management

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/detect-fix-dangling-activities-time-schedule-using-excel-pmp?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3B6Q7NbKiCNqOpFrfh9U5jyg%3D%3D

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/can-robot-do-your-job-heres-how-project-managers-oliver?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3Brgd4BBE3JHWCHOXLUg24dg%3D%3D

 

 

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

26 Apr 2017

Featured Project: KwaDukuza Private Hospital

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Description: Construction of the single storey KwaDukuza Private Hospital, which will be situated in Stanger in KwaZulu-Natal, on 60 000m² land. The hospital will be located along the R102 (heading towards Melville), close to the KwaDukuza Police Station and North Coast Primary School. Estimated project value: R97 million (Incl. VAT).

Status: Underway

Industry: Building

Region: KwaZulu-Natal

Sector: Private

Value: R61 Million – R100 Million

Timing: November 2015 to May 2017 (18 months) Extended to July 2017

Notes: Construction is ongoing with completion extended to July 2017.

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details click here

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

1 Mar 2017

Featured Project: PwC Head Office, Waterfall City

by | posted in: Featured Project | 4

Description: Construction of a new head office for PricewaterhouseCoopers at Waterfall City, Midrand, Johannesburg. The R1.5 billion high-rise building of 26 storeys, comprising 40 000m² of modern offices, is designed to house 3 500 PwC employees in an efficient, optimally designed workplace. The PwC Tower will be constructed in phases due to the unique twist design of the structure. It gently twists through in its height to frame the grand urban park which forms the green heart of Waterfall City. The building is also is designed to conform to the internationally recognised LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver standard. Given the height of the building and that it is situated on a high point in Waterfall City, it will easily be the tallest structure on the corridor between the Sandton CBD and the Pretoria / Tshwane CBD. The PwC Tower will be visible from almost anywhere within a 30km radius. Estimated at R1.5 Billion

Status: Underway

Industry: Office & Commercial

Region: Midrand

Sector: Private

Value: 100 million+

Timing: April 2015 to October 2017 (30 months)

Notes: Construction is ongoing with completion estimated October 2017. A Subcontractors List has been requested. Details to follow as we receive them.

 

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details click here PwC Head Office, Waterfall City

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

30 Jan 2017

L2B Blog: Commercial Construction & Renovation

by | posted in: Construction Chat, Construction Events, General | 0

Commercial Construction & Renovation

According to itsallaboutbusiness.com, “Commercial construction is the business of building and selling or leasing manufacturing or assembly plants, medical centers, retail shopping centers and standard space for offices. The business varies primarily in the size and scale of the operations. Typically, the commercial builder either contracts with a company or organisation to build the facility or builds the facility on speculation that it can be leased or sold at a later time.”

Taking the above into account lets look at some of the commercial properties making headlines in South Africa.

In 2011 Aurecon’s Offices in Century City, now known as Aurecon East, was the first building in South Africa to be awarded a 5-Star Green Star SA Office Design v1 rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) but they didn’t stop there. In 2016 Aurecon West was completed, the second phase of Offices which also went on to receive a 5-Star Green Star SA Office Design v1 rating. Aurecon’s investment in Century City has inspired a number of other large corporates to relocate to the area.

In 2011 there were only 5 buildings in SA with Green Star accreditation from the GBCSA, to date there are 113 buildings with a Office Design v1 rating and 202 buildings in total with a Green Star Rating.

When you mention Kyalami most will think of the Race Track that was purchased by Porsche South Africa in 2014. Indeed, it is an historic track and recent construction and renovation at the Race Track was completed May 2016 after which it was awarded a Grade 2 racetrack certification by the Federation International de l’Automobile (FIA) and is the only current motor racing facility on the African continent to have the prestigious accreditation. But the Race Track is not the only property making headlines, Kyalami Corner, a 28 000m² retail development is due for completion in March and anticipated to open in April this year and forms part of the larger Kyalami Main on Main development in the area which includes retail, motor showrooms, offices and residential.

Another commercial development close to home is the Liberty Midlands Mall Phase 3 Expansion which will include offices and a value retail centre which was initially announced December 2013, construction was planned to commence in early 2014 and completed by mid-2015. However it seems that there were various delays and Phase 3 looks like it will be going ahead during 2017. Residents in the area have been waiting a while for the expansion and I’m sure many look forward to witnessing the progressing going forward. Watch this space.

The list of commercial construction and renovation could go on…

It’s evident that there is a significant amount of commercial construction & renovation happening in SA and what’s more all the developments I mentioned above can be found on Leads 2 Business. Want to know more? Comment below or contact us.

Sources:

http://www.aurecongroup.com/en/about/latest-news/2011/jul/aurecons-office-building-achieves-first-5-star-green-star-sa-rating-in-south-africa.aspx

https://www.gbcsa.org.za/projects/certified-projects/?tool=&type=&rating=&province=&filter=rated

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.

To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.

To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

27 Jan 2017

Featured Project : Discovery Health Head Office

by | posted in: Featured Project | 0

Discovery Health Head Office

 

Description : Construction of the new Discovery Health Head Office, in Sandton, Gauteng. The site will be situated on the corner of Rivonia Road and Sandton Drive. The old Sandton Garden Court Hotel was situated at this site, and has been demolished to make way for the new Discovery hub. The building will consist of two wings with eight floors of offices plus a ground floor and a feature roof level. It will also offer nine basements with over 5,100 parking bays. The property is owned by Growthpoint (55%) and Zenprop (45%). It will be developed in a phased approach, and will incorporate a GBCSA (Green Building Council South Africa) green building accredited rating of at least four stars. It is also set to become a landmark on the Sandton skyline. This iconic building will be the largest single office development to take place in Africa. The building will house 5000 Discovery employees. Value of the entire project is estimated to R1.8 Billion. Size 50 000m²

Status : Underway

Industry: Building

Region : Sandton

Sector : Private

Value : R 100 million+

Timing : January 2014 – October 2017. Occupation January 2018 (33 months).

Notes: Construction is ongoing, the facade is nearing completion and the contractor is currently busy with the internal work. Completion is still on track for October 2017.

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details click here Discovery Health Head Office – Building – PPA: 13215.

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.
To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

13 Jan 2017

Featured Project : Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence (Triangle House)

by | posted in: Construction Chat, Featured Project, General | 1

Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence (Triangle House)

Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence (Triangle House)

Description : The former Safmarine Building, now known as Triangle House, on the corner of Riebeek and Long Streets, Cape Town, in the Western Cape, will be transformed into the 5 star Radisson Blu Hotel and Residence. All 166 flats will have dedicated parking bays. Currently used as offices, the building will be transformed into upmarket apartment units starting at 40m² and going up to 160m² for the penthouse apartments. GPS Coordinates: -33.9196757, 18.42239429999995.

Status : Underway

Industry: Building

Region : Cape Town

Sector : Private

Value : R 100 million+

Timing : January 2016 to April 2017. (15 months).

Notes: Construction is ongoing with completion estimated April 2017.

 

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.

To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.

To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

12 Oct 2016

Respond by Dates (RFQ’s)

by | posted in: Construction Chat, General, Uncategorized | 0

Respond by Dates (RFQ’s)

95-blog-respond-by-dates

Are you familiar with these phrases?

Time is money.

No time like the present.

Take time to smell the roses.

Time will tell.

Third time’s the charm.

Time heals all wounds.

Time’s a-wasting!

 

You get the idea…

 

“Timing is everything,” A statement that is obvi to most ppl these days, but alas not everyone (SMH as I type this). We live in a fast paced world where instant messaging is not only an app but a way of life. As a Millennial myself I can attest to this. It is the norm to get a response within 5 minutes from someone and if it takes any longer something must be wrong. Possible scenarios (some involving serious injury or death) come to mind.

 

Do you know what a RBD is? It’s a crucial bit of info within a RFQ. There I go again with my acronyms… (Yes, the previous ones were intentional)

RBD is otherwise known as a Respond by Date and RFQ is also known as a Request for Quote, these terms are probably familiar to you if you subscribe to L2Q (Leads 2 Quotes) .

*For more details on how L2Q works: https://blog.l2b.co.za/l2qosis-symbiosis-through-l2q/

*For more on the in’s and out’s on RFQs: https://blog.l2b.co.za/pricing-online-rfqs/

 

Now that you are all caught up on the acronyms let’s get into why timing is so crucial to them.

When a Buyer sends out RFQ’s he specifies a date by which he requires prices back (aka the RBD). The RBD is usually prior to the Closing Date (CD) of the tender. The reason for this is because the Buyer needs to complete the Tender Document before the CD so that it can be delivered timeously to the Client to avoid being disqualified. Now I’m not going to go into depth regarding the CD as this will be covered in next week’s blog (check back same time next week if you want to know more).

Vendors are often aware of the actual Closing Date (as referred to on the tender notice) and may often advise that they will only respond closer to this date. Imagine you are a Buyer and have multiple tenders to submit, multiple prices to collate and the Vendors you have sent RFQ’s haven’t responded, you might start to stress (a lot).

In the end it’s all about communication and timing and at L2B we endeavour to facilitate this.

Here are a few tips to consider:

Buyers can take into account that Vendors require adequate time between receiving an RFQ and the RBD in order to respond positively.

Similarly Vendors need to make note of the RDB on RFQ’s and please respond to these on time.

Buyers are able to send through the relevant drawings and specs for Vendors to be able view for accurate pricing.

Vendors have the ability to register as a Vendor on L2B (this is free of charge) in order to view drawings and price online.

Buyers are encouraged to communicate with Vendors regarding receipt of their prices as well as potential use of their services.

Vendors can easily make use of the links on the RFQ to advise if they ‘intend to price’ or ‘decline’ which only takes a few seconds. This informs the Buyer accordingly which prevents unnecessary follow-ups while aiding communication.

Taking the above into account it all amounts to copious amounts of time saved and I think we can all agree that that’s one thing we can never have enough of.

Want to save time and subscribe to L2B? Comment or Contact me on SashaA@L2B.co.za

 

Sources:

http://time.com/4373616/text-abbreviations-acronyms/

http://www.bucknell.edu/communications/bucknell-magazine/instant-gratification-and-its-dark-side.html

http://socialmarketing.org/archives/generations-xy-z-and-the-others/

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.
To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

21 Sep 2016

On time, Online with Transnet

by | posted in: Construction Chat, Frequently Asked Questions, General, Uncategorized | 0

On time, Online with Transnet

92-blog-on-time-online-with-transnet

These days it’s the norm to find most businesses online. I don’t know about you but if I’m looking for company info in any form should it be trading hours, contact info, services they offer or any news regarding that company, I head straight to Google. The easier it is to find the company website the better and if it contains all the relevant info I need it definitely goes a long way toward a first impression. Suffice to say a company’s online presence not only saves you time but in the end money too and that is no different when it comes to business, the well known phrase ‘time is money’ comes to mind.

 

Some of the Key reasons to have your business online are:

 

Anyone can ‘visit’ your business

Portrays your Company’s Image

Offers Customer Support

Availability of information

Streamlining

24 hour access

Relatively low start-up costs

Communication

Going Global

 

If you have ever ventured over to Transnet’s website you will notice there is a huge amount of information provided from the usual contact information to investor relation reports and a whole lot of tender related info. The website looks organised and seems to have all the relevant details one might need. Now I must confess that I am not very familiar with Transnet’s website as we don’t deal with the website much in my department. Thus I looked outside for review/comment from the Tenders Department who regularly peruse the website. According to my sources in our Tenders Department they haven’t had any issues regarding the website and check it as frequently as possible. Additionally Transnet also publishes their tenders on CIDB and eTenders timeously which makes it easier for interested parties to obtain the relevant information they seek.

At L2B we research all the relevant websites and divisions within Transnet that publish tenders and publish them on our site daily for easy access and updates for our subscribers.

Do you feel that Transnet meets the above aspects of an online business and does it assist you with being on time? Do you have any feedback or views you would like to add regarding Transnet’s online presence? Contact us in the comment section below.

Interested in Transnet Tenders and want an easy way to find them online, in one place, daily? Contact me on SashaA@l2b.co.za

 

 

Sources:

http://www.transnet.net/AboutUs/Overview.aspx

http://www.dbwebdoctor.com/article_why_companies_need_a_website.asp

If you are interested in becoming one of our subscribers, please visit our website.
To view notes with screenshots on how to use our website, please visit our Wiki site.
To view more articles, please visit our blog.

About Sasha Anderson

Millennial Mom + wife living the hash-tag life. Remember: If You Fail - Fail Forward

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